


Attracted to Trouble

by caughtinthenow



Series: A Crew's Orgins [2]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: F/M, Fake AH Crew, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Jack Pattillo Centric, Kid Gavin Free, MTF Jack Pattillo, Pre-Fake AH Crew, jack's origin story, jumping around time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2017-11-15
Packaged: 2019-01-23 02:33:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12496620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caughtinthenow/pseuds/caughtinthenow
Summary: All Jack was going to do was do one favor for her best friend, but what she didn't know was that was going to set her on a course for something totally different that she had planned for her life. (Pre-FAHC Origin Story!)





	1. The Favor

Jack lounged on her couch, rubbing her temples. It had been a long day, a very long day. Between classes that morning, and attempting to study for her exam the next day, she was working on developing a massively large headache. Shoving her books away, she lounged back, closing her eyes.  Maybe studying could wait until after she had a nice nap.

She had just dozed off when she heard her phone go off. Groaning, she reached around blindly, searching for the offending noise. She recognized the ringer, she knew who it was without even looking at the caller ID. “Hello?” she sighed into the phone.

“Hey, Jack, uh, are you busy?” Geoff said. Jack closed her eyes. She adored her best friend, there was no doubt about that. They had been through everything, bad and good. He had been there during some of her darkest times, and she had seen him at his worst. Letting out a long sigh, she sat up.

“Well, I was working on homework but otherwise not really. What’s going on?” She asked, already getting her stuff together. She knew, just by the tone of his voice and the fact that he sounded even more tired than he usually did, that something was up.

“Could you come over? I really need a favor from you,” he replied, sounding slightly desperate. Shaking her head, she grabbed her keys and slipped into her flats.

“I’ll be there in ten,” she murmured, and she could practically hear the sigh of relief as he thanked her. Jack shook her head, walking out of the door. The things she did for Geoff Ramsey.

She had Geoff right after he moved there in eighth grade. She had been a loner, no one really bothered to talk to her that much. Mostly because, in most of their opinions, she was weird. Back then, she had still been known at Jack Pattillo, the weird guy who dressed too feminine. Geoff had never seemed to care though, and they had become best friends. They did everything together, and Jack didn’t regret any of that one bit.

\--

The last thing that Jack expected to find was Geoff hanging out with a kid. The kid didn’t look that old and looked rather small. He didn’t really say anything, just stared at her. “You’re kidding, right?” she said, looking between the two. Geoff pulled her away and looked down.

“Jack…I don’t know what to do. I tried to find the kids family, but according to the neighbor, they’re dead, but then again, according to the neighbor, so is Gavin, so I’m not sure what to say there. I was going to take him to LSPD, but the kid was really against that,” he explained. Jack glanced at Gavin, then back at Geoff. This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all.

“You can’t just keep him, Geoff. He’s not a stray kitten, you can’t just take him in and not report it,” she said softly. Geoff looked at her tiredly, shrugging.

“I know, but what am I supposed to do? The kid begged me not to take him to the police,” he murmured. Jack glanced back at the kid, feeling a pang of sadness. She wondered what must be going through the kid's brain right then. She couldn’t help but wonder if he knew about his parents. Suddenly a loud beep echoed through the laundry room, causing Jack to be pulled from her thoughts. “Look, I have class in an hour and then I have work until midnight. I could probably keep the kid at work, but I can’t bring him to class and I’d honestly do whatever you wanted me to do for you if you could just watch the kid till I go to work, and then bring him to the convenience store afterward?” he asked, looking desperate.

Jack just shrugged, nodding. It was better than studying anyways. “Sure. You owe me, but sure,” she replied. He grinned, and suddenly Jack felt arms wrapping around her. She relaxed for a moment, enjoying the embrace before it disappeared.

“Hey, Gavin? This is my friend Jack. She’s really cool. I have to go to class, but Jack’s going to hang out with you till tonight,” he announced. Jack gave a small smile, walking closer to Gavin. The kid just shrugged but did look at her for a moment.

As soon as Geoff was gone, Jack let out a long breath. “Hey, Gavin? Are you hungry?” she asked. Gavin glanced at her, staring at her for a moment, before nodding. She hummed with approval. “Okay, as soon as your clothes are dry and we get you changed out of Geoff’s clothes, why don’t you and I go get some lunch then?” she asked. Gavin’s eyes widened, and he nodded enthusiastically. Jack chuckled. At least he responded well to food.

\--

Gavin was happily chewing on a plate of pancakes. He looked as though he was the happiest kid in the world, and Jack had noticed that he hadn’t wasted anytime digging in. She sipped on her cup of coffee and picked up a fry. “You want some?” she asked, offering Gavin some of her fries.

“Yeah,” he replied, reaching for a fry. “Thank you, Jack,” he added, taking a bite of the fry. The two of them sat in silence for awhile, both just enjoying their food. The kid was cute, she could tell why Geoff might have fallen for taking care of him.

“What do you like to do?” she asked, knowing that the two of them were just about to finish their meal.

Gavin gave a small shrug, going quiet again. “Come on, there has to be something. What about playing at the park? Or going to the movies? Or playing video games? When I was your age that’s all I really cared about,” she chuckled. Gavin didn’t look at her, instead, he looked embarrassed.

“I don’t like parks,” he mumbled. Jack frowned. What kid didn’t like parks?

“What makes you say that? Parks are great,” she replied. Gavin shook his head, looking upset.

“I don’t like parks,” he repeated softly. Jack wasn’t sure what to say to that. She knew she shouldn’t push the subject, not too much anyways. So she nodded.

“Okay...so we won’t go to the park,” she promised, she watched him as he finished his food, and offered up a few more of her fries.

—

Entertaining a child wasn’t exactly her strongest suit, although, just driving around Los Santos made Gavin excited. He kept pointing out the smallest things, such as the various stores they drove past, and he got really excited when he saw the ocean. It was strange to jack, and part of her wondered if he had ever seen any of this before.

Gavin begged to go to the beach, announcing that he wanted to swim in the water. She made a promise to him that one day she’d take him to the beach, but it had to be a day when they had their swimming suits. Gavin looked somewhat content with her answer and promptly turned his excitement towards the ‘Vinewood’ sign. He was a strange kid, that much Jack could tell.

Eventually, they ended up back at Geoff’s apartment. She knew that it was only a matter of time before Geoff would be on his way to work and she’d have to take him. She had to admit, as reluctant as she had been at the beginning to watch Gavin, she was enjoying her time with him. Letting themselves into Geoff’s apartment, Jack threw herself onto Geoff’s couch. Gavin stood awkwardly by the front door, looking slightly hesitant to do anything.

“Come on Gavin, I know you know how to sit down,” she teased, sitting up slightly. Gavin shuffled towards a spot on the couch. The two sat silently, which was starting to both Jack more than she wanted to admit. “Ever play War?” she asked. Gavin shook his head, though he did look interested. Jack got up, leaving Gavin in the living room alone as she went over to the kitchen. She never understood why Geoff’s junk drawer was in the kitchen, but she knew better than to really question anything Geoff did. She pulled out a deck of cards and returned to Gavin. She slid down onto the floor and patted the spot next to her. Gavin mimicked her actions, sitting next to her.

Jack shuffled the cards and split the deck. “The object of the game is to basically get all of my cards and defeat my army,” she paused, handing over half the deck to Gavin. “You don’t look at your cards. We flip the cards over one by one, and whoever has the higher card wins. If we have the same card, then we flip over another card, got it?” she asked. Gavin nodded, immediately flipping over a card. Jack chuckled and flipped over a card. Gavin’s Queen beat Jack’s four. “See! You’re already winning!” she cheered.

Gavin beamed, looking extremely proud of himself.

\--

Jack wasn’t entirely sure how much time had passed, though she knew it was probably time to get Gavin to the shop. She still had a few cards left, though it had become clear that kid had picked up on the game fast.  Suddenly, without her realizing it, Gavin had let out a victorious cheer. Jack looked down, realizing that she had played her last card, and had lost. She put her hand up, offering him a high five.

She reached for the box for the deck of cards and took the card deck from Gavin. “Can we play that again sometime, Jack?” the younger boy asked. Jack nodded eagerly.

“Yeah, I gotta beat you at some point, right?” she pointed out. Suddenly, the door swung open. Jack looked up, confused. All she saw Geoff, panting, looking terrified. “Geoff?” she asked, tilting her head. He kneeled next to her, pulling her tightly into a hug. “Geoff? What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I thought…I don’t know. The store was gone, and I just…I told you to meet me there and I just was scared that you guys had already gone,” he admitted. Jack pulled away, eyes wide. Again? It was concerning that, so many stores had been targeted lately.

“Another store was targeted?” she said softly. He nodded. “I’m really glad you didn’t have to work then,” she mumbled, reaching for Geoff again.  Gavin looked between the two of them but didn’t say any word. She glanced over at him and then pulled him into a tight hug with them. That was close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally I wasn't going to write a Jack Origin story since I played heavily on it, however, there are small details in Gavin's that I already have written that I wanted to write for Jack because I thought it would be fun, and I wanted to focus on Jack adjusting to being apart of the crew also. I will warn you, there will be a lot of overlapping parts in the story, told from a different perspective/ Life Changes was very much Geoff-Centric, and I feel like it'd be unfair to just have that be the Gent's general origin story. Unlike Life Changes, where I had the whole story written out before posting, I don't have Jack's story completely written, mostly because I wanted to post the parts in order of them joining. My plan is to have an origin story for each of them, whether it's written out in one chapter or multiple, and then I'll go from there. I already have Ryan and Michael's stories written out and ready to post, and I am currently writing Jeremy and Gavin's stories alongside Jack's story! I'm really enjoying the world I've written so I'm hoping to have more done. I hope you enjoy the series!


	2. Joining the Crew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After catching Geoff in a compromising situation, Jack decides to join him.

Jack knew there was something going on with Geoff. There was no way that he was doing as well as he was doing, not when just months before he had been struggling so much. Suddenly, he was able to afford things, and he had magically been able to adopt Gavin. Something was fishy, yet she couldn’t figure out what was going on.

She hadn’t mind too much that Geoff had been working so many nights. It gave her the chance to spend time with Gavin. The kid had changed so much since the first time she had met him, he was so much more talkative and much more comfortable around her. They got along pretty well.

Jack had finally convinced Gavin to head to bed. It had been fairly difficult, considering they had made cookies earlier and all Gavin wanted to do was binge on the cookies and watch tv. She had to promise that she wouldn’t eat any cookies either, that she’d wait for him.

Eventually, he had dozed off, leaving her alone to work on her school work. It was calculus, and she cursed the day she ever thought taking the class would be a good idea. She let out a frustrated groan, shaking her head as she angrily tossed down her pen.

Suddenly, she heard a frantic knock on the door. Frowning, she walked over. She wasn’t expecting anyone, and she knew that Geoff wouldn’t knock on his own door. Peaking through the peephole, she saw a man, who kept looking around himself nervously. Her eyes narrowed on one thing in specific. Geoff.

Quickly opening the door, she went wide eye. The man was holding Geoff, who appeared to be unconscious. “Hi ma’am, my name is Burnie, I work with Geoff,” the man quickly introduced. He looked around nervously again. “There was an accident at work,” he mumbled. Jack stepped aside, speechless, as she let him inside of the apartment. Jack stared at the man, partially in shock. What was going on? “Anyways, I patched him up. He’ll live but he might be out of it for awhile,” he announced, looking around. “Where should I put him?”

Jack gaped, looking at him like he was crazy. She didn’t move for a moment, not until he cleared his throat loudly. Jack snapped out of it and led the man carry Geoff into Geoff’s bedroom. The man set Geoff down, turning to look at her. “It’s a good thing you’re home. Geoff’s lucky to have a girlfriend waiting for him,” he announced and then walked out of the room. Minutes later, she heard the front door close.

Jack stared at Geoff, trying to figure out what exactly just happened.

\--

“ _ …It appears that a shooting took place down at the warehouses down by Vespucci beach. Sources say that it one of the crews responsible for this shootout was the RT Crew. A mask was found at the scene of the crime and has been linked to the RT crew. We’ll let you know more tonight at eleven, back to you Jim, _ ” A newscaster announced. Jack glanced over to Geoff, narrowing her eyes. Shootout. There had been a shootout, and Geoff conveniently came back bandaged up after the shootout? Jack shook her head. Maybe it was a coincidence. She silently shook her head, getting up to check up on Gavin.

When she returned, she looked up in time to see Geoff trying to sit up. “Careful,” Jack said softly, appearing next to him. Geoff paled, looking at his friend. “Some man brought you home. Said there had been an issue at work. I think he thought I was your girlfriend or something, I don’t know. He told me he patched you up, but that you might be out of it for a while. You’re lucky that Gavin was asleep when he brought you,” Jack explained, looking at him critically.

Geoff seemed to relax a bit, giving up on his attempt to sit up. Jack was silent for a moment, just staring at him. There had to be some kind of connection. “I couldn’t figure out how you would have gotten shot at work though,” Jack continued looking at Geoff with narrowed eyes. Geoff tensed up, and Jack had immediately noticed it. “Then the news came on about some shooting that took place between two crews down at a shipping warehouse, they knew one of the crews had to be the RT Crew though, a mask had been abandoned there,” she explained, looking at him carefully. He wasn’t looking at her.

She let out a soft gasp as her suspicions were confirmed. “You were there, weren’t you?” she muttered, shaking her head. Of course Geoff would get himself mixed up in something like that. “You’re a fucking idiot.” Geoff let out a sigh, looking at her.

“You can’t tell anyone, Jack. You can’t,” he mumbled. Jack snorted softly.

“I was wondering how you had been able to suddenly afford all that stuff, and how you were able to get a nicer apartment. No job out there is that great without someone having a degree,” she teased, looking around. Geoff looked at her nervously. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to rat you out. You’re my best friend, it’d be pretty damn stupid of me if I did that,” she added. Geoff relaxed again, feeling grateful.

“However, I want to help,” she announced. Geoff’s eyes went wide quickly, and he began to shake his head.

“No. Not going to happen. Not a chance,” he growled. Jack smirked.

‘ _ We’ll see about that, _ ’ she thought to herself.

\--

“So, let me get this straight, your boyfriend comes home with an injury and that makes you decide that you want to join the crew with him?”

Jack glanced over smugly at Geoff, more than amused by the fact that Geoff had been so determined it wasn’t going to happen, yet here they were, talking to his boss. She snorted softly. “Firstly, he’s not my boyfriend. Also, I’ve had my suspicions for a while now that Geoff was doing something shady and finding out the truth was kind of great. Thirdly, I think I could be useful. I’m a great driver, never had a ticket or accident in my life, so all else fails, I have getaway driver written all over me. I also know how to shoot a gun, and if the news said anything, it was that you just lost a member of your crew and could use another gunman. Lastly, I do know how to fly, so if you’re ever needing a pilot, I’m your girl,” she hummed. Jack noticed as Geoff looked at her, wide eyed, and she had to refrain from laughing at him.

“You can fly?!” he gasped. Jack shrugged, nodding. “When did you learn how to do that?”

“In high school. My dad used to work at McKenzie Field. He taught me how to fly. You never asked so I never told you,” she explained with a shrug. She remembered the day clearly. She had always been interested, and spent most of her free time just staring in awe. It hadn’t taken long for her dad to just straight up ask her if she wanted to learn.

“We’ll test you out, see how you work with the crew, then I’ll think about hiring you,” Burnie announced, looking amused. Jack nodded, feeling her heart skip a beat in excitement.

“Burnie, I-” he started but felt Jack swat at him, shaking her head in warning. She was not going to let Geoff ruin her chance.

After all,  _ someone _ had to watch Geoff and make sure he didn’t get himself killed, and who was better to do it that she was?

\--

“The job is simple. I have a plane hidden at the docks. Once the rest of have the money, you’re going to get us out of the area, lose the police, and get us to the plane. You’ll already have coordinates to where we need to land pre-programed, so all you have to do is get us there, and then we’ll be good, got it?” Burnie explained. Jack gave a quick nod. Although her body showed that she was more than ready for the challenge, inside, Jack  was screaming. Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe she shouldn’t have joined.

She nervously toyed with the mask on her face as she stared at the front doors of the bank. What if she fucked up? What if she couldn’t get away fast enough? What if she was the reason Geoff got hurt? Suddenly, she heard alarms ringing, and several people flooding out of the bank. The doors to the car she was in started opening and then slamming shut. “Go, go, go!” Burnie yelled as soon as they were in.

Swallowing her fear, Jack slammed on the gas. She could do this, she knew she could.

\--

Jack had forgotten how exhilarating being behind the controls of a plane. Normally, she wanted to take her time getting to know the plane, but in cases like this, she knew that it wasn’t the time to do that. As soon as she got confirmation that they were all in the plane, she took off. Like the boss had promised, preloaded coordinates popped up on screen.

It was a piece of cake, minus the fact that she felt as though her heart was racing way too fast for a normal person. Still, she had a job to do, and she wanted to prove she was just as useful and worthy to be in the RT crew. Behind her, she could hear yelling as Burnie ordered his crew to station behind guns, to get ready to fight off any police choppers. 

A rush of adrenaline swept through her body as several beeping noises happened all at once, signaling the arrival of the choppers. Approaching from multiple angles, they appeared to be surrounded. Suddenly gun fire was all around her and she found herself having to maneuver to avoids choppers.

There was more shouting and more gun fire, but slowly, one by one, Jack noticed as the choppers started disappearing from the radar, until finally it appeared they were clear. 

As she approached the final destination, she started her descent. She had done it, she had really done it. 

When she landed in the garage, she heard Burnie ordering people to get out. “Get in your car. Make sure you’re not wearing your mask when you leave this garage. Drive normally. Go home. You’ll get your cuts wired to you,” Burnie announced. Jack got out, heart still racing. Geoff immediately walked up to her, throwing his arms around her. 

“That was fucking amazing,” he announced, beaming at his friend. Jack relaxed a bit, glad that Geoff hadn’t freaked out on her. 

Burnie walked over to the two of them, looking the, up and down. “I gotta say, that was pretty damn good flying you did there. You want into the crew? You’re in, for sure. Welcome to the RT crew, Pattillo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Thank you so much for all the love!! I really hope you guys continue enjoying the story!


	3. Up in the Air

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack decides to teach Gavin something in secret and starts a new relationship after she decides she's tired of waiting.

As far as Gavin knew, Geoff was away because of some summer training for the school. Jack, however, knew the truth. Burnie has sent him on a job, a job that required him to go undercover, cutting him off from everything and everyone. Jack had eagerly volunteered to watch Gavin, not that it was a shock to anyone.

They had grown a lot closer as Gavin had grown. Gavin told her things that he apparently never told Geoff. He seemed to look up to her, and she was more than happy to be some sort of role model for him.

—

“Do you want to learn how to fly?” Jack asked, glancing over from her book. The sixteen-year-old glanced up, shocked.

“What?!” He asked, mouth slightly gaping.

“When I was sixteen, my dad taught me how to fly. I figured maybe you might be interested?” She shrugged. Gavin was silent for a moment, just staring, but he eventually started to nod his head. “Good, then we’ll start tomorrow, but you have to promise me you won’t tell Geoff,” she said, holding out her pinking. Gavin gave a small giggle, nodding as he linked his pinkie with jacks pinkie.

“I promise I won’t tell him,” he announced giddily. It was amazing, watching how worked up the kid could get when he was excited. He started asking her questions, like what planes she had flown, which were her favorite, things like that.

—

It turned into a tradition. Every time Geoff was out of town, she taught him little by little. Of course, much to his dismay, jack wouldn’t let him fly any sort of plane until he learned what all the buttons did, what they were called, and until he understood the controls. Even then, she’d only given him control for limited periods before immediately taking it back.

She knew if Geoff knew what they were doing, he’d kill her, and would never leave him alone with Gavin again, but it felt good, passing on the skills like her father taught her.

—

 

“Hey, Jack?” Gavin said, turning to look at Jack as they drove back to Geoff’s apartment. Geoff was going to be home that day, which had meant their plane lessons had been cut short.

“Hmm?”

“Do you like Geoff?” He asked, voice soft. Jack was silent, looking straight ahead. Did she like Geoff? She swallowed hard as she thought.

He had always been there for her, he had stayed by her side when everyone else had left her. He took care of her and treated her like a real person. He had been supportive of her when she transitioned.

Jack had liked him in high school but had never gotten the nerve to say anything. She desperately had wanted to say something during prom, desperately wanted to take their friendship to the next level, but she hadn’t been able to bring herself to do it. Eventually, she had told herself that maybe she didn’t actually like him.

Deep down though, she knew. She knew she still had feelings for him. Why else would she had stuck around this whole time, following Geoff around? So as they sat at a stop light, jack turned her head, looking straight at Gavin.

“Yeah I think so,” she replied. Gavin snickered.

“Knew it!” He grinned, looking triumphant. Jack snorted.

“Why’d you want to know?” She asked, curious. Gavin gave her an innocent smile and shrugged his shoulders.

“No reason,” he replied.

—

Gavin’s question about her feelings for Geoff constantly rang in her head. She did have feelings for Geoff, she knew she did. She knew that maybe she should take initiative, take a chance and see if he would even date her, but something inside of her stopped herself from doing it.

She noticed how Geoff lingered, how he seemed to want to say something, but never did. She found herself tired of always wondering if he was going to say anything.

When she bumped into her old math professor, she hadn’t planned on accepting a date from him. They were both in the grocery store and had gone for the same exact bag of salad.

One thing led to another and Jack found herself grabbing coffee with him, catching up. He was pretty young, though a couple years older than she was, but still young enough it wasn’t weird in her opinion. In the classroom, he had been charming and had taken the time to explain everything to her.

She would be lying if she said she hadn’t found him attractive. “What are you doing Friday night?” He asked. Jack hesitated. She knew they had a heist that night, but she also knew it wasn’t a very large one.

“I’m working, but I should be off early evening, why?” She replied, looking curiously. He smiled at her.

“Would you like to grab dinner with me?” He asked, looking hopeful. She blinked for a moment, surprised. She wasn’t sure what to say, how to respond. Normally, she didn’t get asked out, or at least no one seemed to want.

She slowly nodded her head. Why not? Things with Geoff weren’t going anywhere anyway. “I’d like that,” she replied. He beamed, obviously pleased that she had accepted.

—

Jack groaned slightly as she looked at her watch. Unfortunately, she realized, she had no real time to get home and actually take a shower to get ready. She just felt grateful she had brought a change of clothes with her.

Jack didn’t see Geoff approach her. “Are you coming over tonight?” he asked, sounding hopeful. She looked up briefly, shaking her head.  
  
“I got a date,” she announced quickly, going back to changing her shoes.

  
“Oh yeah? Since when do you go on dates?” he teased, though the voice sounded sad. Jack flashed a brief smile towards him.  
  
“Since I decided I was tired of waiting for something that was never going to happen,” she said, walking past him. Sure, she knew she could have said it nicer, but she didn’t care.

—

“So what are you doing now?” John asked. Jack twirled the pasta on her fork, staring at it in amusement. If only he knew what she really did.

“I do odd jobs here and there. Sometimes I drive people around, like tonight,” she replied. It wasn’t technically a lie, she had drove people around that night, it just so happened that it was a getaway car. “I don’t really have a stable job but it’s a lot more fun this way,” she explained, smiling up at him.

“Well, whoever you work for is a lucky person. I know several professors always raved about you when you were their TA,” He hummed, looking fondly at her. Jack knew it should be weird, going on a date with an old professor, though she didn’t feel anything weird about it at all. In fact, it was nice being on a date with someone that looked at her more than just a friend.

As the rest of the date continued, Jack found herself enjoying it. He was good with small talk and knew how to make her blush at the right times. When the dinner was done, he paid and even made sure she got back to her apartment safely. In all honesty, she knew he was the perfect gentleman.

But deep down, she knew something was missing.

—

Things between her and John got serious, fast. They continued to see each other often, grab lunch together when they both had lunch free, sometimes have a late night dinner depending on how late a heist went or how much work he had to grade. In all honesty, she really did like him, and she knew that she could have a real future with him, especially if she quit the crew.

But he wasn’t Geoff. No matter how much she tried to be happy with him, something was missing.

She had quit going to Geoff’s, made herself distant. It hurt but she figured it was for the best. If she was honest with herself though, she would have understood how much she missed Geoff and Gavin.

—

She knew something was up with John. At first, she had ignored everything. She ignored the random cuts and bruises she found on his body, at least, she tried to ignore it. She had spent countless hours with him, long enough time to memorize small details about him, such as the fact he had a scar on his right wrist.

The crew had met up to forge an alliance, at least a temporary one. She was standing in the back, just waiting for the agreement to go through. Eventually, everyone had agreed and they all shook hands, one by one. Then Jack got to a hand that felt way too familiar. She gazed down for a moment and then felt dizzy. On his right wrist was a scar, a very familiar scar. The owner of the hand was staring at her hard as if he was studying her.

That night, after they met up, she didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know what to say. “Have you ever heard of the RT Crew?” John asked. Jack froze completely, not entirely sure what to say. She laughed nervously.

“Who hasn’t heard of them?” she replied. A knowing smile crossed his lips. So she decided to test it. “Have you ever heard of the Machina Crew?” she asked, innocently.

“Hasn’t everyone?” he hummed.

Although neither said admitted to it, they both knew exactly who the other was.

—

Jack refused mention just how connected to this other crew she really was. It did, however, help with the temporary alliance. It didn’t change anything in their relationship, though Jack did notice just how different John’s Machina persona was from John. He was much colder, and much more lethal than she ever thought John, college math professor, could ever be.

Of course, dating someone from another crew proved difficult, especially when the alliance was dissolved due to their crew leaders double-crossing each other. Burnie seemed to know everything, knew every little detail about Machina, including identities, which just made Jack nervous, but Burnie never seemed to say anything.

\--

“We need to talk,” John said, reaching over to pause the movie that they were currently watching. He pulled away from her, sitting up. A million things started flowing through her mind, and she couldn’t help but wonder what went wrong. She hadn’t been there completely, and she knew he knew it.

“John I-” she started, but he shook his head.

“Just...Let me talk,” he paused. She shut her mouth. “I have to leave for awhile. Turns out if it falls in the wrong hands, your identity is never safe. I uh, can’t stay in Los Santos for a while or the school will find out,” he admitted.

Jack stared at him, not sure what to say.

“So this, us, needs to end. I really like you, Jack, really like you, but I’m smart enough not to beg you to come with me, nor do I expect you to go with me,” he murmured.

“Where are you going to go?” she asked, trying to process it all one step at a time. He shrugged.

“No clue. I mean, I heard the east coast is pretty good. Don’t worry though, I'll keep in contact,” he winked. Jack knew she should be more upset, but for whatever reason, she wasn’t. Angry, maybe. She was determined she’d find out who was doing this.

She spent the night there. One more night together.

When Jack woke up, he was gone.

She wasn’t surprised.

\--

Weeks passed and she didn’t hear anything, not that it shocked her. She continued to avoid everyone, or at least she tried to. She discovered avoiding people was pretty difficult when people knew where she lived.

Jack tiredly carried her food, shifting around so she could fish her keys out. When she looked up, she saw a very familiar face.

“Why are you avoiding us, Jack?” Gavin asked, looking disappointed. Jack let out a long sigh. It had been awhile since the last time she had seen Gavin. She reached around him, unlocking the door and motioned for him to go in. Gavin marched in, and she followed, closing the door behind him.

He flopped down on the couch, eyes locked on her. “You eat yet?” she asked, passing him to go into the kitchen.

“Yeah, Geoff gave me some money to order food before he went to work,” he announced. Jack grabbed a fork and bowl, dumping her takeout into the bowl. She grabbed the second fork, just in case. When she returned, he sat up a bit, looking at the food. Shaking her hand, she handed over the extra fork and sat next to him.

“Geoff is miserable, you know? It’s kinda dumb,” Gavin sighed, reaching over to take a bite. That didn’t help Jack feel less guilty. “And I missed you and I miss flying,” Gavin pouted. Jack took a large bite, not saying anything, so Gavin continued. “Geoff likes you by the way. Nah, I think he’s in love with you. Told me himself, so you should just come home already,” he announced.

Taking one last bite, Gavin stood up. “Just think about it, okay? See you later Jack.”

\--

It was another week before Jack found herself standing in front of Geoff’s apartment, knocking until the door opened. “Jack?” Geoff said softly. She knew she had to just move, otherwise, she’d lose her nerve.  She moved past him, walking into the apartment, disappearing into Geoff’s bedroom.  
  
“Jack?” he said again, softer this time. Jack turned towards him, silently staring at him for a moment before walking up to him. It was now or never, and she just prayed that she wasn’t making a mistake. She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her lips against his. Geoff stood rooted to the ground, eyes wide. He didn’t respond at first, but eventually, she felt him kissing back.

  
She pulled back for a moment and just stared at him, heart racing. Taking his hand, she pulled him towards the bed, returning every desperate kiss he threw her way.

\--

Geoff leaving when they had finally had made some progress was rather frustrating. Still, it did feel nice to be back to spending time with Gavin. He looked smugly at her when Geoff left. “Having fun with him?” he teased.

“Shut up or we’re not going flying,” she countered. His eyes went wide and immediately, he closed his mouth.  “Yeah, figured that would work.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Hopefully, you liked this chapter. I believe it's the longest one in this story, but i'm not entirely sure. John will be back, in fact, he has a direct connection to Jeremy, so there's that. Thanks for all the love for my stories!! I appreciate every single one of them!


	4. Falling Apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Between discovering identities and secrets, its no wonder things fall apart at the end.

The Vagabond was different than Jack expected. He was intimidating, there was no doubt about that, but at the end of the day, she discovered, he was just a giant teddy bear who liked video games and anime, and wore dad jeans when they weren’t heisting. She wasn’t sure what his real face looked like under all the layers of face paint he wore.

They got along pretty well, most of the time anyway. If there was someone she was going to argue with, she was pretty sure it was going to be him. Usually, they got in heated debates and arguments over the little things, but it’d die down pretty quickly.

Eventually, Geoff managed to get him to admit his real name. Jack and Geoff had been betting for a while on his name, whether it was a normal boring name, or something mysterious. “It has to be mysterious, the guy is mysterious as fuck,” Geoff claimed. Jack had disagreed.

“He probably has one of the most normal names in the world,” she pointed out. “Not everyone has a cool name like you, Geoff.”

The Vagabond just gave a long sigh. “It’s Ryan,” he announced. Geoff looked absolutely upset, and Jack just smirked.

“See, normal name,” she announced, triumphant.

If there was one thing to be said, it turned out that Geoff, Ryan, and herself was a lethal combo. Sure, in general, Ryan was pretty lethal, but they turned out to work very well together.

\--  
Sometimes, Jack was jealous that Geoff and Ryan always got to be the ones that got to go out undercover. It drove her crazy, though she knew she was needed back home. After all, no one else in the crew seemed to know how to fly properly.  
  
Jack wandered through Geoff’s apartment stopping in front of Gavin’s door. She knocked once and then opened it up. “Hey, Gav, wanna go fl-” she paused, tilting her head and frowning slightly as realized that he wasn’t in his room. Normally by now, he was home, yet, he was nowhere to be seen. Sighing she turned to start walking out when something caught her eye.

A file laid open on his desk, thick with multiple pages. Frowning again, she took a step forward and peaked at it. Her eyes scanned over the file name. Free, Eva. Jack frowned.

“I do have an exam on Friday, but I should be able to do the job, no problem,” the familiar voice said. “Yeah, I'll make sure I'm free Burnie, don’t worry,” Gavin said as he stopped at the door. Jack looked up, staring straight at Gavin, who looked absolutely terrified. Burnie. How did he know Burnie? He immediately hung up his phone, staring at Jack. “What are you doing in my room?” he gasped.

“How do you know Burnie?” she said quietly. Gavin blinked but didn’t say anything. “Gavin, how do you know Burnie?” She repeated.

“You can’t tell Geoff,” he said quietly.

“Well that depends on what you tell me,” she replied, feeling slightly sick to her stomach.

“I work for him. Sometimes anyways,” he shrugged. Jack clenched her jaw. “I uh, i’m really good with computers, and he had me do some things for him, and now sometimes I uh, help him,” he admitted. Then he scrunched up his forehead. “Hang on, how do you know who Burnie is?”

Jack groaned. “You can’t tell Geoff,” she mumbled. He went wide eye.

“You work for Burnie?” he gasped. She knew she should deny it, but she nodded. He looked at her as if she had just shattered everything he had ever known.

“You can’t tell Geoff that I do. I don’t need him knowing what I do,” she said softly, careful to keep Gavin away from the idea that if she was connected that Geoff might also be connected. She stuck out her pinky. “If you don’t say anything, I won't say anything, as long as you’re safe doing whatever you do,” she promised. It was fucked up making this promise, she knew it was, she knew she should rush and tell Geoff, but the kid looked absolutely terrified. He nodded, looping his pinkie together.

“So what were you doing in my room?” he asked again. Jack sighed.

“I was going to see if you wanted to fly today,” she replied. Gavin’s face lit up, and he immediately nodded.  
\--

Jack waited patiently in the getaway car, feeling rather bored. She knew she probably should be watching closely for when the rest of the crew got there, but instead, she found herself staring off a bit.

The sound of her phone going off caught her attention. She pulled it out, and her heart skipped a beat. Flashing on the screen was a text from John. He had contacted her a couple months after he left. He never would tell her where exactly where he was, but he kept her up to date about things going on.

Her lips curled into a smile as she read over her message, however, suddenly a loud ringing was coming from the bank. Slipping her phone in her pocket, she prepared herself to drive away the moment everyone was in the car.

It happened fast. One minute, Burnie was getting ready to open up the door, the next he was on the ground, gasping for breath. Suddenly everyone was screaming ‘Go, go, go!’ and Burnie was bleeding out all over the backseat. Jack grit her teeth and slammed on the gas, determined to get out of there as fast as possible.

\--

Jack watched as the crew quickly fell apart after Burnie passed away. The once invincible crew that terrorized the city, disappeared. Geoff seemed to take it the hardest. “I’m going to find the fucker that took him out,” he growled as they laid in bed one night. Jack looked over at him.

“Me too.”

Eventually, it was just the three of them, but that was okay, Jack realized because she had found out a long time ago that the three of them were a pretty strong team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this was a bit rushed, but hopefully, everyone liked this! I had a lot of fun writing Jack honestly. Next up, i'll be posting Ryan's story (which will be posted this Friday in place of my usual post for my other series), and then Michael's story (which will be posted next Wednesday!) I've finally got a concrete idea for Jeremy's story, so i'll be writing that next, and then i'll go back to working on Gavin's story. Unfortunately, like I mentioned on the last chapter of my other series, it's near the end of the semester, and as a media production student, I'm intensely busy at the moment, so I'm not sure how much I will be getting done in the next few weeks. Thanksgiving break is next week though, and then three weeks after that I will be on winter break, so hopefully, I will have the chance to write more then! I really hope you guys continue to enjoy this series (and hopefully the overlaps in stories isn't bothering people too much!) Thank you for all the love i've been given, I really appreciate all of it!!


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